Re: Panamint Springs

In Reply to: Panamint Springs posted by David A. Wright on January 01, 2003 at 01:22:32:

I ran across a large number of horseback riders sunday while going into ballarat. Allways had good encounters with riders in the past but rude is all I can say about the riders I saw. First many of them where camped on the road and when I past I was greeted with looks of disgust.I blew it off with a smile and a wave and went on my marry way to surprise canyon. On the way back they where out on the road in groups of one to five riders the first rider was trotting down the center of the dirt road .we had to pull onto the shoulder because the rider would not move to one side.We passed another group and got yelled at for driving to fast and thanked for all the dust.(I did not know that passing a horse at 10mph was going to fast and as far as the dust went if you ask the last guy in thier group he would not have know if the dust was from us or the horse's in front of him) When we got back to ballarat we had to stop and wait while another group on horseback talked in the middle of the road never thinking they should let us pass. This bothered me the whole drive home to San diego. I was extra courteous so as not to spook any of the horse's but these people showed no class at all. If they have a problem with other people doing things out in the areas they like to ride Im sorry but they will have to live with it . If this was my first encounter with horseback riders I might think all riders are jerks like these people where. but I know most are not and I respect and think horseback has got to be one of the best ways to see the backcountry. Next to a 85 toyota 4x4 at least